queer art historian, educator, performance artist

Welcome! My name is Baylee Woodley. I am an educator, consultant, and artist who was raised on the territory of the K’ómoks First Nation.

Today I work and play on the unceded territory of the Lekwungen, Songhees, Esquimalt, and WSÁNEĆ peoples whose historical relationships with the land continue to this day as do the harms of colonization.

The core value that I find in my work as an educator is facilitating a sense of belonging and possibility for queer students, artists, and audiences.

I have been working in accessible education since 2016. I have taught undergraduates, high school students, and adult learners from diverse backgrounds. Currently, I am a sessional lecturer and learning strategist at the University of Victoria, the curator of a digital collection of queer art histories, and the founder of an equity-driven education and consulting company focussed on advancing queer representation.

I have my PhD in History of Art from the University College London where I specialized in medieval and contemporary representations of queer femininity. I am now building on this education through a Masters of Arts in Counselling Psychology at Yorkville University. The deep understanding of long histories of queerness, systemic inequity, and queer theory that I gained doing my PhD will be complimented by this training in providing mental health services to allow me to ultimately turn more fully to community-driven work.

The spark that I see in queer people like me when they feel seen or represented in cultural spaces and are allowed to bring their full selves to their studies or their work motivates me to continue finding new ways to support equity-driven queer education for individuals and institutions.

Everyone benefits from an education that invites them to consider all of the possibilities and question the structures around them: an education that is queered.